PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Doctor Who festive specials linked to lower death rates

Study highlights the positive impact of doctors working over the festive period, and may prompt broadcasters to air new Doctor Who episodes each year at Christmas

2023-12-19
(Press-News.org) A new Doctor Who episode shown during the festive period, especially on Christmas Day, is associated with lower death rates in the subsequent year across the UK, finds a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. 

The findings highlight the positive effect doctors can have when working during the festive period and may prompt the BBC and Disney+ to broadcast new episodes of Doctor Who every festive period, ideally on Christmas Day, says the author.

Sixty years ago, the BBC televised the first episode of Doctor Who, following a character called the Doctor, who travels through space and time in the TARDIS fighting villains and intervening to save lives. The show became a cultural phenomenon, and today millions of viewers still follow it worldwide.

In the UK, many doctors work over the festive period, but the impact of this on population health is unclear.

Because Doctor Who has been broadcast for 60 years, it provides a natural experiment to investigate the impact that one doctor could have when working over the festive period.

To explore this further, Richard Riley, Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, examined the association between new Doctor Who episodes aired from 24 December to 1 January - a potential proxy for a single doctor working during that period - and the subsequent year’s age standardised death rates from the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

Only new televised episodes from 1963 were considered. Televised spin-off series, books, comics, and audio stories were not included.

Between 1963 and 2022 a new Doctor Who episode was broadcast during 31 festive periods, including 14 episodes shown on Christmas Day. Thirteen of the 14 Christmas Day episodes were consecutive from 2005 to 2017.

In time series analyses, an association was found between broadcasts during the festive period and subsequent lower annual death rates.

In particular, episodes shown on Christmas Day were associated with about six fewer deaths per 10,000 person years in England and Wales and four fewer deaths per 10,000 person years in the UK.

The reduction was even higher when Doctor Who was consistently shown over the festive periods from 2005 to 2019, mainly on Christmas Day, with an average seven fewer deaths per 10,000 person years in England and Wales and six fewer deaths per 10,000 person years in the UK.

Riley points out that these findings do not show causality and relate to one unique doctor, so may not apply to all medical doctors in the human race. However, the analysis took account of population differences over time and he suggests that watching a doctor who is caring for people, “could encourage health seeking behaviour.”

These findings reinforce why healthcare provision should not be taken for granted, writes Riley.

He believes that decision makers at the BBC and Disney+ (the international broadcaster of new episodes) should reach enlightenment from the study’s findings owing to a possible health benefit of watching Doctor Who.

Also, assuming the findings generalise beyond the UK, Disney+ has the opportunity to reduce mortality rates worldwide if it streams new Doctor Who episodes during the festive period, he concludes.

This has to be a chance finding, but maybe there is truth in the notion that providing kind, thoughtful, timely healthcare, free at the point of need, to those who need assistance, really can make a difference, say researchers in a linked editorial.

The Doctor in Doctor Who represents the best of everyone who works in healthcare, they add, and probably inspired many people to make better choices and live better lives, both on screen and off screen.

And they suggest that while health professionals work this Christmas, six decades after the clattering opening of a police box in a junkyard in London, they can look at each small beautiful action they make and say “we’re saving lives” and “we’ve got a paper to cite to prove it.”

[Ends]

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hospital coffee machines get a clean bill of health

2023-12-19
Healthcare workers will be relieved to know that hospital coffee machines are not responsible for spreading disease and a general ban doesn’t seem necessary, finds a study published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ.  In a bid to eliminate hospital acquired (nosocomial) infections, various objects have been investigated as breeding grounds for bacteria including doctors’ ties and even hospital Bibles. But despite being regularly touched by lots of bare hands, the potential of hospital coffee machines as a source of infection had not previously been explored. To address this, researchers in Germany assessed the microbial population in healthcare associated coffee machines, ...

Common drug for cardiac failure jams a debated blood test for Alzheimer’s disease

Common drug for cardiac failure jams a debated blood test for Alzheimer’s disease
2023-12-19
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with damaging protein aggregates in the brain, with β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates called plaques being the key pathology. Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) is a combined neprilysin inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker, approved for the treatment of heart failure. Concerns were raised by the FDA that this neprilysin inhibition treatment may increase the risk of AD, since neprilysin is one of the main enzymes responsible for degrading Aβ in the brain. The PERSPECTIVE trial (NCT02884206) showed that 3-year neprilysin inhibition treatment was not associated ...

Disadvantaged children’s struggles at school have “little to do” with character, attitude or a lack of ‘growth mindset’

2023-12-19
The relative underperformance of disadvantaged students at school has little do with them lacking the ‘character’, attitude, or mindset of their wealthier peers, despite widespread claims to the contrary, new research indicates. The study, which analysed data from more than 240,000 15-year-olds across 74 countries, challenges the view often invoked by politicians and educators that cultivating self-belief or ‘growth mindsets’ can reduce class-based learning gaps. Researchers found that no more than 9% of the substantial achievement gap between ...

Unveiling molecular origami: A breakthrough in dynamic materials

Unveiling molecular origami: A breakthrough in dynamic materials
2023-12-19
Origami, traditionally associated with paper folding, has transcended its craft origins to influence a diverse range of fields, including art, science, engineering, and architecture. Recently, origami principles have extended to technology, with applications spanning solar cells to biomedical devices. While origami-inspired materials have been explored at various scales, the challenge of creating molecular materials based on origami tessellations has remained. Addressing this challenge, a team of researchers, led by Professor Wonyoung Choe in the ...

Scientists spread festive cheer as research reveals Christmas dinner can be healthy

2023-12-19
In less than a week’s time, families around the country will be sitting down to tuck into their traditional Christmas dinner. While the festive season is often a time of overindulgence, could parts of a festive banquet actually help improve our health? Experts at Newcastle University, UK, have been researching the different characteristics and compounds of festive trimmings and have found that some of the side-dishes offer significant benefits. Fighting chronic conditions Soggy sprouts should be off the menu say Newcastle researchers – ...

U.S. utilities on track to be 100% renewable by 2060

2023-12-18
Utilities in the United States have pledged to transition to 100% renewable electricity by 2060, and although state mandates have played a role, it’s the utilities, themselves, that are leading the transition.   “Many people feel the transition on the policy side isn’t going fast enough,” said Matthew Burgess, a CIRES fellow, CU Boulder assistant professor, and co-author of the paper published today in Climatic Change. “But the private sector is moving faster than we thought. A lot has ...

Giant bacterium uses unique processes to power itself

2023-12-18
Not all bacteria are created equal. Most are single-celled and tiny, a few ten-thousandths of a centimeter long. But bacteria of the Epulopiscium family are large enough to be seen with the naked eye and 1 million times the volume of their better-known cousins, E. coli. In a study published Dec. 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Cornell and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have for the first time described the full genome of one species of the family of giants, which they’ve named Epulopiscium viviparus. “This incredible giant bacterium is unique and interesting ...

Quantifying barriers to establishing sequestration wells

Quantifying barriers to establishing sequestration wells
2023-12-18
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. While CCS is an essential tool in decarbonizing the U.S. economy, there are barriers that exist to the development, approval, and implementation of a geologic sequestration site, as it requires an appropriate geologic formation, as well as an approved injection facility. Recent work from the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) estimates the time required to develop, approve, and implement ...

Sylvester cancer researcher and technology innovator named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Sylvester cancer researcher and technology innovator named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
2023-12-18
MIAMI, FLORIDA (Dec. 18, 2023) – Shanta Dhar, Ph.D., assistant director of Technology and Innovation at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Her research focuses on ways to overcome barriers to precisely target mitochondria – the part of each cell that generates the energy needed for biochemical reactions. Her inventions and innovative contributions in nanomedicine, mitochondria-targeted drug delivery, and platinum-based prodrugs help guide targeted therapies in cancer and other diseases. Dhar, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology ...

Team led by UMASS Amherst discovers how to sabotage antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’

Team led by UMASS Amherst discovers how to sabotage antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’
2023-12-18
Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” that can defeat efforts to kill them are an urgent public health crisis, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year. Researchers across the world are scrambling to meet the challenge. A collaborative team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and including scientists from the biopharmaceutical company Microbiotix recently announced that they had successfully learned how to sabotage a key piece of machinery that pathogens use to infect their host cells, and have developed a test to identify the next-generation drugs ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists trace origins of now extinct plant population from volcanically active Nishinoshima

AI algorithm based on routine mammogram + age can predict women’s major cardiovascular disease risk

New hurdle seen to prostate screening: primary-care docs

MSU researchers explore how virtual sports aid mental health

Working together, cells extend their senses

Cheese fungi help unlock secrets of evolution

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking

Mental health effects of exposure to firearm violence persist long after direct exposure

Research identifies immune response that controls Oropouche infection and prevents neurological damage

University of Cincinnati, Kent State University awarded $3M by NSF to share research resources

Ancient DNA reveals deeply complex Mastodon family and repeated migrations driven by climate change

Measuring the quantum W state

Researchers find a way to use antibodies to direct T cells to kill Cytomegalovirus-infected cells

Engineers create mini microscope for real-time brain imaging

Funding for training and research in biological complexity

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: September 12, 2025

ISSCR statement on the scientific and therapeutic value of human fetal tissue research

Novel PET tracer detects synaptic changes in spinal cord and brain after spinal cord injury

Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows

Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior

OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech

Research spotlight: Study identifies a surprising new treatment target for chronic limb threatening ischemia

Childhood loneliness and cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults

Parental diseases of despair and suicidal events in their children

Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults

Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults

How interstellar objects similar to 3I/ATLAS could jump-start planet formation around infant stars

Rented e-bicycles more dangerous than e-scooters in cities

Ditches as waterways: Managing ‘ditch-scapes’ to strengthen communities and the environment

In-situ molecular passivation enables pure-blue perovskite LEDs via vacuum thermal evaporation

[Press-News.org] Doctor Who festive specials linked to lower death rates
Study highlights the positive impact of doctors working over the festive period, and may prompt broadcasters to air new Doctor Who episodes each year at Christmas